Monday, May 21, 2012

Your Turn: All-Star Evening on SPEED

Saturday night featured SPEED's coverage of the All-Star festivities for the Sprint Cup Series from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Krista Voda hosted from the Hollywood Hotel. Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds provided commentary from the booth. Many other SPEED and FOX personalities were featured throughout the coverage.

This post will provide NASCAR fans an opportunity to discuss the TV coverage. Please refrain from profanity or hateful speech. Comments may be moderated prior to posting. Thank you for stopping by.

41 comments:

Not sure if you watched tonight or not JD but it was another FOX wash, rinse, repeat. They hyped wrecks and crashes again all week and had absolutely NONE tonight. So way to build the crash drama guys. Classy.

There were efforts at times to go wide, but unfortunately they never stayed wide enough, long enough to make it worthwhile. Krista was solid as a host, but again the talking head syndrome was annoying.

Also some audio mix issues where you would hear Larry, Krista, Mikey and others in low volume over some dead air.

Pretty much the same old same old for this network. Sad commentary indeed.

I tuned in for Speed race coverage and got Fox race coverage. Very disappointing. They kept talking about action on the track that wasn't shown on TV. That's frustrating to me.

The race winner was predictable after JJ ran off with the first segment. He did the wise thing and sandbagged until the final 10 laps to save his car and tires. The second, third and fourth segments were interesting but meaningless since we knew the eventual winner was riding around watching the other drivers beat their cars up racing. It might have been different if the segment winners had to maintain a top five or top ten to maintain their final pit stop position.

I actually thought it was a good race. With the fast cars going to the back they had to show the guys racing up front. On a related note there's a autoparts show on instead of any kind of post raceshow.

same o'l same o'l, says there's racing, but keeps the camera's at the front where's it's single file, and i think this is the worst format yet, because the winner only raced for 20 laps and didn't even try for 60 laps, and ran away at the end. kind of like the chase

First - what was up with the Hollywood Hotel? Krista Voda looked like she just got out of the shower, and Michael Waltrip's hair was half-wet, half-dry. Oh, and Carl Edwards wants to be a broadcaster. WE GET IT ALREADY.

Second - 1.25 laps until the cars are single file. No one wants to see this.

Third - DW in second segment as cars finally get three-wide for one turn: "This is the most three wide racing we've seen all year!" Yeah, that's the problem with NASCAR today.

Fourth - I love the 48, but who wants to see a car win by more than a second in the all-star race?

It's pretty bad when the most exciting thing in the broadcast was wondering whether or not Rick Hendrick was going to fall off the 48 and get injured.

I am not sure if I watched the same race as the rest of you last night. The coverage of the All Star Race (not the initial qualifier) was a 1000 times better than every other race so far this year, and that is not because of the racing being any better, it wasn't, not because the producer decided to show more cars or further back in the field, they didn't, not because there were a lot of caustions or wrecks, there weren't. It was a 1000 times better because for once you could watch a race and see it unfold without loosing your momentum, excitement, interest, what have you, due to commercial interruptions.

Aero puts the lead car way ahead. segment winners can chug around to make sure only they have a chance at the win. Yeah, great format. With so few cars on the track, you would think Fox could show more than 1 or 2 cars at a time, wouldn't you?

Despite the constant, crash-filled hyping of recent races, the unthinkable has happened---Dega, Darlington and the All-Star races were a total disappointment. Last night, the first five finishers were spread out over half a mile. It sounds like Nascar is waking up to the fact that their product stinks. The Speed/Fox talking heads continue to offend and insult. They need to dump the Hollywood Hotel and DW/Joy. The aerial shots were good as usual. The strategies used by the various teams last night through the four segments was confusing. Certainly, no substitute for side by side on-track racing. I hope JD perseveres against sub-standard Nascar broadcasts by Fox and all the Networks. It'll be a real challenge for Hub this week to put lipstick on last night's show(?).

Donna yo do know that SPEED and FOX are not just related they are one in the same as far as production of these races go. The All-Star race was produced and directed by the same people that do NASCAR on Fox with exactly the same people at all positions. No difference. Only diff is where its broadcast. Kinda like ESPN on ABC or TNT and NBC before 2007. SPEED does not just hire people for Daytona and Charlotte. Sorry

I enjoy heat races, and so I did like the All Star race except for the cluster fox final "pt stop". What in the World was all about? With no service of any kind required it was simply an opportunity to wreck as nearly happened to Junior.

I do agree with Osbornk about the 48. The rules allowed Voldemort to game the entire race. He needed one thing from Weasley -- to win the 1st heat -- for everything to go perfectly. Then he had all the time in the world to put the car in qualifying trim for the 10 lap sprint. Shots of him atop the pit box were, accordingly, pictures of a very relaxed man.

Were I to change the rules I would require service on the final pit stop, I would lengthen the final heat to 20 laps so the cars could sort themselves out well and I would say that if you do not finish in top 10 in any one of the preliminaries then at the final pit stop you park. With these changes it would be very much like local track racing and I like local track racing.

Finally, I was not really bothered by the booth or infield studio. The only place I got bothered was on Victory Lane when Kenny Wallace climbed back up on the "fans want wrecks" bandwagon. At that point I switched channels to watch Mick Jagger on SNL.

DW tweeted "I know we brought you the best possible coverage that we could, thought our team was excellent tonight, Carl added a nice touch to our show." If that is true, they clearly need a new broadcast team for coverage in the future. When both the product and the delivery of the product sucks, it is time for some changes in both.

WOW, been reading it from everyone, but I really did see it last night... DW does have to be the center of attention constantly. It was very evident. If Joy or Mac would say anything, DW had to either talk over or attempt to finish their thought. DW is a mess.

So what is it 3 races left till FOX is gone for the year. Can't wait and disappointed in SPEED for pretty much putting on a FOX production last night.

The race was actually fun to watch as long as the MUTE worked. The Waldrips are absolutely the worst in TV race coverage as has ever been. Didn't matter who won, as those drivers were racing their guts out. It's really cool to see just how hard they can run the cars without wrecking them. Just sayin' these guys are good.

Osbornk - I saw that tweet - and (tried) to watch the race. I think it just shows how deluded DW really is - just so impressed with himself he can't see he's lost sight of his assignment - report on the race. The whole day of coverage was repeated pretaped segment after repeated pretaped segment. So disappointed in Speed.

I enjoyed the race last night. Well,except for the pit stop rule for last segment. Silly to just let someone ride around until end. Not blaming teams. They played by the rules.

The booth didn't irritate me as much. I think this is because of the short race segments, so everyone was up on the wheel (well except the first 3 segment winners).

There seemed to be a few more wide shots, but still saw a lot of "twos". Don't understand how that is exciting to anyone.

Kind of perplexed. The one time DW yelled "someone in the wall", the camera never moved. There seemed to be a long gap before they pulled up a replay. Don't they have a gazillion screens in front of them that the director can call for when that happens?

Side note: What is up with the Social Garage? You sit in a designated area while using your portable device to communicate by social media...something that can be done from anywhere.

I had company over, so I had the race streaming, muted, on my computer in a corner. All I'll say is thank goodness SPEED showed every green-flag lap of the big show without commercial interruptions. All else being equal, being able to watch without breaks like that is refreshing.

On another note, if you're going to use full-screen replays, wait until there's an apparent lull in the action. That's what they always do on soccer broadcasts: they wait until the ball's gone out of play. Last night, even with the end of one of the segments not more than three laps away, they replayed Harvick and Menard dicing it up rather than follow up on the live battle. All the networks do this, and I think waiting to show the replays would allow them to show more live action, while giving them more opportunities to paper over dull racing with more exciting images.

I thought the race was pretty good last night, well better then the usual. The driving was a little more intence with some passing and some 3 wide racing. I think some of it is because nobody was points racing. As for the booth, it was the same old, same old. When is Fox and speed going to realize that the Waltrips or a big part of there problem? You think the Waltrips own alot of shares of Fox and Speed? It is the only reason I can come up with as to why they are still allowed to work there.

Boring race but it had nothing to do with the telecast. The long stretches of dead time were mind numbingly boring.And the rule that let JJ sit back half a lap and not use up his car for most of the race was absolutely ridiculous.This race needs to be on a short track.

I liked the format except for the last stop, agreed w/ above, 2 tires, etc minimum. The qualifying format brought the pit crews into play, yet the last pit stop w/no service on the car required, IMO the square root of stupid.

I don't see what the big deal about Michael waltrip is. He could be a little over the top on the old TWIN, but last night he didnt say anything really crazy or get too silly or pump up his drivers or anything. I would like to know what he said that was so bad?

Mandatory 4 tire stop on the last segment? I think that would be the only way to make winning a segment and getting to pit first count, but not be the deciding factor in the race. Because with a 4 tire stop it puts more pressure on everyone to perform.

Allmendinger knew it, that's why he took 4. They knew they were done either way.

Also, bring back an intermission between segments 2 and 3 so you give a couple teams that need a little help that extra time to ensure a good race at the end.

DW really dominated the booth. I actually have been somewhat surprised with Mikey, he hasn't been terrible but he falls under the criteria of "Why do we need ANOTHER voice?"

They tried to go wide at times, I would see a glimmer of it, then I would see the field single file which made me think they'd go super tight. Sure enough, they did.

On a positive note, ESPN seems to have been quite quite solid in this Nationwide race today.

I got home in time to watch the last 2 segments. All that hype and the 48 car drove away, big surprise - clean air and the lead car is gone.

I like Ancient's idea for the last pit stop - otherwise, that whole stop and go thing was just silly.

Very glad I didn't spend the $ to go to this race in person. I've been bored the last few years and this year wouldn't have been any difference. Would have wasted an absolutely stellar weekend as far as weather. As it was, I got lots of yard work done, had a nice dinner out with friends and after watching the end of the race,I got to sleep in my own bed.

BTW, Trackpass was a total mess - no matter what I tried on my computer I couldn't get the actual RACE to come up - so my choice of drivers for the scanner piece was limited to the wrong race! I wound up just listening to MRN and muting the TV. I am going to complain to them tomorrow - I pay for the dratted subscription, they could make sure it works right.

That mess in the booth with Edwards sitting in too -- sheesh, I was hoping I wouldn't have to put up with it until ESPN took over. Two segments of DW was plenty.

Mike Joy and Larry Mac can stay. DW is a legend in his own mind and MW, NASCAR's One Track Wonder, is a natural born idiot. First, DW's "now back in the day" is really getting irritating, if he says it once, during a broadcast, he says it a hundred times. Shut up already. MW, what I can say about him? Go away and give us all some peace.

I paid no attention to the rules changes for this years All Star race. There are a bunch of interviews on the web to include Jimmie Johnson that said everyone in the garage knew the importance of winning Segment one as well as the other segments before the last pit stop. They all knew they could lay back and just wait for the final 10 laps. The result was lousy racing. If everyone in the garage knew what was going to happen, why didn't Nascar? The Fan Vote is also getting embarassing. Over the years, they made tweaks to the rules to include Junior. Now its the Fan Vote which we fortunately didn't need this year. Nascar should just man up and declare that Junior will be in the All Star race as long as he's driving. I can't imagine anything worse then spending a day of the Memorial Day weekend watching 600 miles at Charlotte.

Mr Editor -How can a network that got it so right 24 hours earlier, get it so wrong? With sponsor IDs for most everything - pit stops, tire pressures (LOL), track facts, etc, wonder what the going rate is to sponsor DW's silence? After all, if 'silence is golden', what value does that put on DW's non-stop commentary? As for Mike Joy, it seems he sold his soul to abide the Waltrips rambling chatter ...MJ, you bailed on your profession to continue to shill for the Waltrips.Walter

I'm not sure why I'm doing this. I'm sure FOX ignores this stuff. I've heard David Hill talk about NASCAR coverage and I know he doesn't get it. A couple weeks ago Ed Hinton wrote a column on Bobby Allisons Talladega crash. On top of the story was a video of it. When I watched it, I saw a great call of the incident. The right amont of every emotion. NO OVER THE TOP HYPE!! If you get a chance Google " Bobby Allison crash" and watch , you'll see everything the Waltrips and Larry are not. It was fun to see the unpainted walls, the round 76 signs, and the cars that still looked different from one another.It took me back to when the coverage was enjoyable, not aggravating like today. Please FOX, get some well rounded professional people, loose the clowns and clown acts.

Last week at the ESPN Upfront sales meeting, Carl Edwards appeared as the face of NASCAR on ESPN. He also replaced Dale Jarrett for the Nationwide race from Dega on ESPN. I was amazed FOX brought him on-air as a guest analyst.

I am anon 8:44 am. The point about making sure that both Danica and Junior are both in next years All-Stars race is an excellent (and funny) point and one I hadn't considered. Considering that Junior reportedly made $20+ Million last year and Danica $12 Million, maybe they could rename the race the "Lottery Palooza!" Seriously, Nascar needs to get back to the basics of racing both on and off the track. The booth should pick and choose to concentrate on describing both what we can see happening on the track and whats happening behind the scenes that we can't see. We get far too much blather,trivia and war stories. It assaults the senses. Go back and listen to Ken Squier and Bob Jenkins if you want to hear someone calling a race. The pit reporters would be lost without their scanners. Most of their 'reporting' is a rehash of scanner traffic. They need to climb up into those pit boxes and ask some direct questions the fans want answers to. I can recall Larry Mac on Tues or Wed of a Race Hub himming and hawing about some technical problem that happened three days earlier yet he had no specifics on the incident. I apologize for venting, but when you are 'needy', you just can't help yourself.

Two things are dominant it seems right now with the All Stare Race. Single file racing and the format.This is a Saturday Night Race so why not run it like a Saturday night short track race.Trophy dash, 4 heat races setting the line-up and a 40 or 50 lap main with a mandatory 4-tire and fuel stop.As for single file racing; take some more of the down-force out and introduce some different tires, even in the same race like F-1 does, different hardness tires and require that they both be used. There will be passing because of the different speeds.It does need some help. As for FOX, well it’s FOX. What did anyone expect from FOX other than what we are seeing. It’s not about the race, it’s about FOX.

I really wish the audio guys at FOX would learn to"duck" the audio. ducking is where the background music bed is lowered in volume while the TV people are talking. then when the talking is done, the background music comes back up in volume. It is a really simple process that any first year audio student should know how to do. I am really annoyed by the background music bed overpowering the comments during thing like race breaks and up to speed and the like.

While it was SPEED I was tuned to, it seemed to be a FOX broadcast including the camera direction. There were some brief moments where a manned camera was panned back but it was all too brief. There was also the occasional aerial shot. Again, welcome but all too brief.

I wouldn't mind if when the cars get strung out, that they select an in car shot looking forward and ride around with them for a couple laps. Hopefully, one that's gaining on a car ahead of them.

Overall, I found it to be mostly a disappointing and frustrating broadcast.

turned on the race, saw the FOX team, turned it off & watched our young adult kids play night-time badminton instead.so i had a wonderful, laughed-filled, relaxing evening!as i said earlier, no TV races for me until TNT takes over from FOX.

I lost count of the number of times DW or LarryMac got excited about something occurring on the track that was not visible in the camera shot, and was never shown on a replay. That is so frustrating. I was yelling at the TV "We can't see it you morons!", which resulted in my wife yelling at me "they can't see or hear you!" I watched the whole thing .. but I don't know why.